Hello,

Recently my car has been going down to the borderline of the red zone for oil pressure. Today I opened the hood to check the oil and the oil looked really thin on the dipstick. It was there, but looked pretty much transparent. I figured I'd add a quart just to be safe. This is 10w40 stuff, quaker state high milage I believe. So I added that, and the oil came up a bit, but not much, and still looked really thin, like it had no viscosity. This is where I think I screwed things up.

Instead of adding more oil I decided to put some lucas oil stabilizer in, about half a bottle, so 16 fl oz I think. Then I had the bright idea of adding some seafoam to the mix too. I don't know why, but it seems like I made a poor choice putting those two in at the same time. Am I wrong? I kind of panicked when I opened the oil filler cap and saw a bit of smoke come out. Is that normal? Checked the dipstick this time and the oil is a bit overfull...by about a quarter inch. I was at the auto parts store didn't figure it was that big of a deal and drove back home.

On the drive back home the oil pressure was pretty much the same it usually is, not really noticably higher. It did seem to fluctuate less though. Sat at around 20-30 psi. Sometimes at idle I think it goes to 15, right above the red line. Got home, looked under the hood again, and noticed some oil pooling up right under the air filter, on the intake I think is what its called. Appears to be coming from the bolts around the intake. Umm...how serious is this?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Any suggestions on what oil I should run or anything to help the low oil pressure. This motor has 164k miles on it.

 

First, the stock gauge isn't all that accurate. Second, 15 psi at idle and 30 psi is low, but not dangerous by itself. Third, I suggest you drain every drop, then add the correct amount of straight 30W, drive it, and report back.

 

30 W? I'm in Tucson, Arizona by the way, gets kinda hot here. Not sure if that has something to do with it.


Any info on what oil to use?

 

over filling the oil system is wrong . your profile says your a jet engine mech. , what will happen if you overfill a jet eng. , you will blow out your turbine shaft seals . drain oil , put in correct amount , replace oil press. sensor . sensor is above oil filter , be careful of old brittle plastic on connector . more likely than not the sensor is faulty . after 20 yrs. + or - they are not very accurate . 5w-30 or 10w-40 oil is o.k. even in tucson . pray that you didn't blow out any gaskets . good luck .

 

Ah your completely correct about turbine shaft seals. I don't think it was over full enough to blow a seal, was only driven for about 15 minutes after I filled it up. I actually think the oil I saw at the intake was the oil I spilled while pouring it in. Doh!

I read some on the forums and decided to use Mobil1 10w-30 synthetic. Oil pressure stayed the same but it seemed like it had more power over the 40 weight stuff.


Thanks for the help everyone.